Connacht SFC - First round London v Galway (Ruislip, 3.30)
The annual ritual of the trip to London is made more memorable this year by it being the first championship visit by the All-Ireland holders to Ruislip. London have completed a poor league campaign and can look forward to the occasion if little else. This is always a tricky fixture for the visiting team as it involves a certain amount of promotion - particularly with the champions in town. Teams in the past have flown in and out but Galway will spend two nights in London as they try to get their defence off to a satisfactory start.
Team News
Galway are missing Tomas Mannion, Kevin Walsh and Michael Donnellan from the team which won the All-Ireland. Walsh's injury is causing concern as it has prevented him from training fully. London have the usual high turnover of players, with nine of the team defeated by Sligo last year having departed the scene. Don Kelly, Derry's substitute goalkeeper in the 1993 All-Ireland, makes his debut.
Key Confrontation:
One of the Galway players who grew (figuratively) with the experience was statuesque centrefielder Sean O Domhnaill. After a mixed Connacht championship, he played well in the All-Ireland matches against Derry and Kildare. Tomorrow he must take on additional responsibility in the absence of established partner Kevin Walsh. Providing the test will be Jody Gormley, the former Tyrone player who lined out in the 1995 All-Ireland final. Both he and Fergal Logan played well that day against Dublin and Gormley had the distinction of being the only teammate of Peter Canavan's to score. Galway will hope the centrefield clash isn't decisive, but it might be instructive.
View From The Camps
"No-one gives us a chance in hell. Why should they?" - Tommy McDermott (London manager). "The last time we went to London was in '94. We went over as nobodies. I think even London fancied their chances. Now we'll be attending functions and all the pressure's on us. We've an awful lot to lose; they've nothing," - Martin McNamara (Galway).
Verdict: Galway.
Galway - M McNamara; R Doyle, D Mitchell, T Meehan; R Silke, J Divilly, S de Paor; S O Domhnaill, S Walsh; P Clancy, J Fallon, T Joyce; D Savage, P Joyce, N Finnegan.
London - D Kelly; B McDonagh, P Rafter, F Doheny; C Wilson, D Gordon, B Bolger; T Murphy, J Gormley; T Feehan, T McGivern, D Deering; J Grimes. M Galvin, T Maguire.
Leinster SFC First round
Meath v Wicklow (Croke Park, 2.0)
Nagging worries hang over both sides. Meath have been unlucky in the last two years with injuries and suspensions assisting their departure on each occasion. A third year of excuses would, however, run a bit thin. Wicklow have endured a frustrating decade which has seen them knocking at the door of a championship breakthrough and getting nothing in response apart from a peep through the letterbox when they drew with Meath eight years ago. Both ended this year's league in disappointment, Meath by scoring only three points in the semi-final against Cork and Wicklow by losing out on promotion largely thanks to the infamous day of the Mullingar tunnel incident - which cost them last year's championship starters Stephen and Keith Byrne and nearly Kevin O'Brien. With Billy Morgan helping out manager Niall Rennick, Wicklow have been making a sustained effort this year.
Team News
Both teams have two debutantes. Tom Burke and Adrian Foley come in for Wicklow, whereas Meath call up goalkeeper Cormac Sullivan after a good league campaign and centrefielder Nigel Crawford, whose impressive distribution has been on show during this season's League. Long-term absentees Trevor Giles and Tommy Dowd are now fully recovered and are selected in attack. Graham Geraghty is named at full forward.
Key Confrontation
For a long time, Wicklow's attack has revolved around Kevin O'Brien. Tomorrow he lines out on the 40 and is as important to the team as ever. For a while after the Mullingar incident O'Brien intended retiring, but has been persuaded to return. His marker is Meath's fifth centre back in successive years, Hank Traynor. More established as a flank player, he has impressed the selectors with his attention to detail in the pivotal position. If he keeps a tight rein on O'Brien tomorrow, he will have gone a long way to ensuring a Meath victory.
View From The Camps
"There's still a lot of belief and pride in this squad. Hopefully the Byrnes will be with us again next year and we've some good lads coming through. We'll be back," - Trevor Doyle (Wicklow corner forward) "We have that self-belief, but sometimes it's a handicap. At the back of your mind you think no matter what happens, we'll still scrape through in the end. That can be a good thing, but it can be a bad thing as well. Leinster is so competitive now," - Frank Foley (Meath selector).
Verdict: Meath.
Meath - C Sullivan; M O'Reilly, D Fay, C Murphy; P Reynolds, H Traynor, D Curtis; J McDermott, N Crawford; R Magee, T Giles, E Kelly; T Dowd, G Geraghty, O Murphy.
Wicklow - T Murphy; M Coffey, H Kenny, T Burke; B Whelan, B O'Donovan, A Foley; D Coffey, F Daly; D McMahon, K O'Brien, C Shannon; C Daye, R Coffey, T Doyle.
Dublin v Louth (Croke Park, 3.45)
An unusual state of affairs between the counties with Dublin less experienced and in possession of a poorer track record over the last two championships than Louth who recently haven't enjoyed very much in the way of league success, despite having good championship credentials. One B All-Ireland and a a few narrow defeats in Leinster semi-finals in the last three years indicates how competitive the county can be when the focus is right. Both squads have contrasting league records, with Dublin going all the way to the final and their opponents losing sight of promotion well before the run-in.
Team News
Louth bring in three new faces: Simon Gerrard, 19-year-old Sean O'Neill and David `Skid' Reilly. Colin Kelly will fill the vacancy at centre forward if his hamstring survives a fitness test. If not, Stefan White is on the bench, as are Ollie McDonnell and Alan Rooney, both starters in last year's championship. In total, four of the attack which caused Meath so much trouble a year ago are listed in the replacements. Dublin convert Ian Robertson to full forward and bring championship debutante Shane Ryan up to centre back. Tomo Lynch and Brendan O'Brien are the other newcomers at this level.
Key Confrontation
Although there are doubts about Ian Robertson's fitness, he is being brought in at full forward to try and improve what, even during the latter stages of the league, has been a fitful attack. Last year when he was playing wing forward, Dublin had planned that Robertson would move in to full forward should a target man be needed. In the event he wasn't used in that capacity. Tomorrow he will be trying to bring Dessie Farrell and Brendan O'Brien into the game. Farrell had been playing well at full forward, although his scoring returns weren't excessive. Robertson will be well tested by Gareth O'Neill who has been showing well in challenge matches.
Louth's accomplished full back (one of Louth's four Railway Cup medallists) has the credentials to suggest that he will be as happy coping with a target man as with a more mobile type of opponent.
View From The Camps
"I suppose we're quite nervous starting off a championship. Louth are actually more experienced than we are," - Tom Carr (Dublin manager).
"There's no use in fretting. It's like getting up on a horse. You don't want it thinking you're nervous," - Paddy Clarke (Louth manager). Verdict: Dublin.
Dublin - D Byrne; P Moran, P Christie, T Lynch; P Curran, S Ryan, K Galvin; C Whelan, B Stynes; E Sheehy, J Gavin, D Darcy; D Farrell, I Robertson, B O'Brien.
Louth - N O'Donnell; G Phillips, G O'Neill, S Gerrard; N Malone, S Melia, A Hoey; S O'Hanlon, K Reilly; S O'Neill, AN Other, A Farrelly; D Reilly, C O'Hanlon, A Doherty.
Ulster SFC - First round
Donegal v Armagh Ballybofey, 3.30
About the last sort of trip a team in need of a breakthrough wants is one to Ballybofey. Armagh's good League run provided a morale lift, but as the joint-management team of Brian McAlinden and Brian Canavan are going into their fourth championship, they know how high the stakes are. Donegal were unlucky to lose last year's Ulster final and had a frustrating league, losing three matches by a point and ultimately being fortunate to hang on to first-division status. This should be a good match as both teams will play football and aren't normally distracted from that task.
Team News
The main news is the absence of Diarmuid Mrasden from Armagh's attack. He is named on the bench but presumably the selectors don't want to play him if it can be helped. A big influence on the team, there had been signs that Marsden was at last on the threshold of fulfilling his potential after an injury-free run. In his absence the pacy Peter Loughran comes in for his first championship outing. Ciaran Hughes at wing back is the other debutante, but he has been a league regular. Donegal are without the suspended JJ Doherty and give championship debuts to Eamonn Reddin and Niall McCready.
Key Confrontation
An evenly-balanced match like this will be greatly swayed by whichever team can come closest to dictating a style of play. Armagh's centrefield was a most effective unit during the league and was seldom outplayed. It is a conventional pairing with Jarlath Burns as the anchorman and Justin McNulty more of a runner. If Paul McGrane drops back, the sector becomes even more imposing. Donegal's combination is, however, very mobile. Jimmy McGuinness's year has been carefully monitored by manager Declan Bonner to make sure that he doesn't burn out after playing a major role in IT Tralee's third Sigerson success in a row. McGuinness is just back in the county after exams and is in good shape for the energetic game he prefers. Beside him James Ruane is also a tireless mover so the stage is set for either Burns to assert himself in the air or the Donegal pair effectively to by-pass the sector.
View From The Camps
"I don't think the team selection has been consistent for long enough. There's no point talking about players coming through into the team. They need to gel. I feel we are a lot more settled this year than last year," - Brian McAlinden (Armagh joint-manager).
"Armagh's run has done us no harm. No manager would ignore the League - and I accept we were lucky to stay in the first division - but the 10-week programme out of the media spotlight has done us no harm at all," - Declan Bonner (Donegal manager).
Verdict: Armagh.
Donegal - T Blake; D Diver, M Crossan, E Reddin; N Hegarty, M Coll, N McCready; J Ruane, J McGuinness; J Duffy, A Sweeney, J Gildea; B Roper, T Boyle, B Devenney
Armagh - B Tierney; E McNulty, G Reid, M McNeill; C Hughes, K McGeeney, A McCann; J Burns, J McNulty; P McKeever, P McGrane, J Rafferty; P Loughran, C O'Rourke, O McConville.
